The project sees Perstorp building a plant to capture and convert CO₂ emissions from its operations together with biogas and renewable hydrogen (from electrolysis) to create sustainable methanol.

The green methanol will substitute all the fossil-based methanol that Perstorp now uses as a raw material, with the aim of cutting CO₂ emissions by up to 500,000 t/y. The facility, expected to be fully operational by 2026, is being undertaken in cooperation with energy companies Uniper of Germany and Fortum of Finland.

“Moving away from fossil feedstock at the beginning of the value chain is crucial to reduce the overall carbon footprint of end products,” said Alberto Giovanzana, managing director of catalyst technologies at Johnson Matthey.

The European Union Innovation Fund has granted funding of €97 million for the project and the Swedish Energy Agency has provided about €30 million.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist